Two individuals from Ireland are charged in U.S. District Court in Seattle with conspiracy to commit wire fraud for their theft of more than $400,000 from a Shoreline, Washington, homeowner.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection arrested Patrick McDonagh and Matthew McDonagh in mid-June and have been held at the immigration detention centre. They have been transferred to the Federal Detention Center at SeaTac and will make their first appearance on the criminal charge today at 2:00 PM.
According to the criminal complaint, the pair was part of a group that travelled the country allegedly scamming homeowners – especially the elderly – by falsely representing the home needed an urgent repair. One older homeowner in the Shoreline neighbourhood north of Seattle lost about $435,000 to the scheme.
“This type of fraud on our elderly neighbours is heartbreaking,” said U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman. “To pose as someone trying to help them, while all the while the goal is to steal as much as they can from the victim’s hard-earned retirement funds. It is a special kind of cruelty to engage in such conduct.”
The men first approached the victim in January 2024, claimed they were working in the neighbourhood and had noticed that the victim had a hole in his roof. The men offered to fix the hole and remove the moss from the roof. Over the course of a few days, they pressured the victim to write them checks for their “services” of $15,000, $20,000, and $26,000. They also claimed that the victim’s foundation was cracked, and they said they would repair that with a “titanium tie rod system.”
The roof had no hole, and the foundation was not failing. However, the men dug trenches and poured some concrete to make it appear work was done, and each day they pressured the victim to write more checks. They even demanded an extra $20,000 for “taxes.”
Ultimately, they demanded the victim wire $200,000 to a third party for building supplies – again, far in excess of any work they claimed to have done. In all, the brothers stole $435,000 from the victim.
The FBI investigation connected the brothers to contractor fraud complaints in Washington County, Oregon and Spokane, Washington, totalling about $50,000. In those cases, they used fake photos of holes in the homeowner’s roof or alleged problems with the house’s foundation or posed as local-reputable businesses.
“Sadly, seniors are often an attractive target for fraudsters attempting to steal a lifetime of savings, and scammers are skilled at deceiving people, said Richard A. Collodi, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Seattle field office. “We encourage consumers to stay vigilant and avoid making quick decisions before doing research or getting to know someone. If you think you or someone you know could be a fraud victim, call your financial institution immediately and report suspected fraud to the FBI at tips.fbi.gov.”
